Bring On Wedding Season!
Chic, appropriate, and cool. From Trina Turk.
That’s right, it’s May, and you know what that means — wedding season is here. If you’re between about 23 and 33, there’s a good chance that you are going to spend every other weekend this summer at a friend’s wedding. If you’ve been through a few years of this, you probably have a couple of stand-by dresses that you whip out if you need them, but the chances are you still sometimes get invitations to events for which you just don’t have anything appropriate. I’m a big advocate of making an effort to find wedding-appropriate clothes out of respect for both the couple getting married and the venue. (Even if you think some of the rules are old-fashioned, is it worth the risk of offending the bride or the groom’s mother on their big day?) What’s wedding appropriate, though, definitely varies depending on the venue, the time of year, the time of day, and the couple.
The Femmeiniste style advisors have received a request for fashion assistance for attending an outdoor wedding in Cincinnati this August. The extra twist? She’s the sister of the groom. While she has wedding-appropriate dresses, well, you can’t wear the same dress you’ve worn to the weddings of several cousins to your brother’s wedding too. (The earful from the family about that might last the rest of your life!)
If you’re not setting foot inside a church, sleeveless dresses become fair game. Of course you still need to look like you’re going to a wedding and not a picnic unless the event is pretty informal, but if there’s not going to be a mass, the standards change a little. For an outdoor wedding, comfort becomes more important. Cincinnati may not officially be the south, but it’s not Churchill, Manitoba, either. Heavy satins will look silly and cause you to poach in your dress, and anything that’s going to show the sweat the second you start to “glow” is a disaster waiting to happen. Don’t forget the wedding pictures!
So, our girl is blonde and divinely fair (may we recommend sunblock for this occasion?), tall, and although she’s slender, does have hips. Here are our picks for outdoor wedding dresses for her this summer.
We’ve said this before, but Trina Turk is a great source for nicer summer dresses. I’m a big fan of the dress at top, which also comes in tomato at Revolve — it’s cut with just enough venting to keep you from boiling while still looking ladylike enough for someone attending a family wedding. The colorblocked Seagull dress is also totally family appropriate:
Our girl is also fond of purple — here are a couple of gorgeous options, both with flowy skirts that are both great for keeping you cool on a hot day and perfect for anyone who doesn’t want to show off too much booty in the wedding photos.
Great beaded detail at the neck, and feminine ruching at the shoulders and waist. From Tibi.
The second dress, incidentally, is also available in blue. Being gorgeously fair, she can also get away with a great summery color that is just a no for me — yellow.
Love the ladylike pleating. From Maggy London.
There are also a host of florals available, from tailored sheaths to flowy silk. (Trust me, florals are a Midwestern wedding classic!) I particularly liked these two:
Great graphic floral. From Helene Berman.
Okay, the neckline might be a bit much, but LOVE the print! From Adrianna Papell.
Anyone have other suggestions?
Ah, wedding attire. A constant thorn in the side.
I tried on a gorgeous chartreuse silk number by Cynthia Steffe last week – smocked waist, low back but high neck. Stunning, really, it fit beautifully and now I’m kicking myself for not purchasing it – it would have been perfect for the 2 weddings I have this summer!
Keep your eyes peeled for me?
Ooh, that sounds nice… Will definitely keep an eye out!
Someone really needs to post the rules for these things. For example, black at weddings – I’ve seen and worn black to plenty of northeast urban evening wedding affairs, but that’s a no for daytime weddings anywhere else in the country right? Can you wear white at a wedding? I always thought no, but then I saw a friend wear a white sundress to a wedding last summer. What about Indian weddings and others where guests will be wearing traditional dress – how can we get our hands on those? etc. etc. etc.
I gather black is common at New York weddings, but it’s traditionally a no-no (funeral colors inappropriate for a wedding) — it’s really uncommon at most of the Midwestern weddings I’ve been to, although there’s usually that one woman who wears it and sticks out. White is definitely a no also unless there’s a black-and-white theme or something like that. Yeah, the idea is that you not be confused with the bride, which a sundress probably wouldn’t, but still. It’s not like there aren’t a trillion other colors you can wear that don’t run the risk of ticking off the bride.
I have sadly never been to a full-out Indian wedding — I had to miss the Indian part of the only one I’ve been to. Emma might have opinions on that one, though — she stayed for the whole deal!
I looooove love love the yellow. I’m really feeling yellow right now, no idea why.
I’m going to a wedding in the beginning of September in Kansas (on the playground where the bride and groom met- they went to elementary school together, awww) and I’ll be rocking my Nanette Lepore Sunny Day dress for that one. *thumbs up*
Luckily for the Indian wedding that I went to, the bride provided the sari’s. Oddly enough, her future in-laws got them from a shop in Houston, apparently there’s a large Indian community there. We got my husband’s wedding wear in Singapore – so, not super convenient for most. I think your best bet is to link up with one of your Indian friends who can take you to a favorite shop. Big secret there: there actually are saris that are “easy to wear”. No wadding up material in certain lentgths, just put it on and go. My sari, sadly, sits in my closet for lack of an occasion to wear it. Not to mention, I’m intimidated by it – it’s not easy to wear…
As for the rule book on what to wear to a wedding. I just googled “wedding guest dress etiquette” and came up with quite a few hits. Wish I had done that before… Lots of good advice.
[...] almost to June, the biggest wedding month of the year, so it’s time to take another pass at wedding guest fashion. While there are a few rules that are consistently safe for any wedding (don’t flash too [...]
[...] to summer! Wedding season is in full swing. We’ve covered wedding fashion outdoors, in the church, at the beach, so hopefully you have your eye on the dresses you’ll be wearing [...]